More Ikegami Oeshiki

Some more photos of the fantastic Oeshiki (お会式) at the Ikegami Honmonji Temple in Tokyo’s Ota Ward. Most of people in the procession has been on their feet since early morning, and even then this was the second of three days of chanting, dancing and music. No wonder they are starting to look tired. Leading up the temple, is a very steep set of stairs that can take the wind out of anyone even on a normal day, let alone anyone climbing in the middle of a procession! I took these photos of the procession about 2-3 minutes after climbing up those stairs. Check out my earlier post for more background on the Oeshiki festival, on of those rare buddhist festivals!